Spruce Up Your Home’s Exterior This Spring: Preparing to Paint

With dreams of spring, you might be thinking about updating the exterior look of your home. A new paint job is the most obvious solution. At Matthews’ Painting we can prep and paint the exterior of your home for you. However if you like to DIY, you should know that there are multiple steps necessary to prepare. It’s not just about pressure washing. Depending on the type of exterior, there are certain things you’ll have to pay attention to.

Vinyl

If your home has vinyl siding and you plan to prep the surface YOURSELF, we suggest hand washing.  Check for mildew before cleaning. If mildew is present use an oxygen beach cleaner or regular bleach. You’ll also want to check if the siding has contracted in the cold weather. If it has, there may be a color gap at the seams that you’ll want to pay attention to.

Unfortunately you aren’t always able to use just any color paint on vinyl siding. Vinyl has only so much heat absorption, so picking a color darker than the vinyl’s original shade can cause problems if you do not use Sherwin Williams Vinyl Safe Technology paint. The darker shades of paint found in just your basic house paints will absorb more heat, which can lead to warping. Finally when you do begin painting, do so in the shade or when it is overcast.

Wood

Before washing your home’s wood exterior, you’ll want to look for peeling or chipped paint. Using a scraper or putty knife, remove these shavings for a cleaner, smoother surface. You’ll also want to wash the surface as you remove the shavings. Rinse the surface, and if any paint loosens be sure to scrape it off. Once you’ve done this, repeat your scraping the next day after things have dried out.  You can also roughen the old paint surfaces if the surface has a glossy finish.  This will remove the paint’s old sheen so that the new paint will adhere better. Now, before you move onto priming and painting, let the wood dry for a minimum of 3-5 days.

Before applying the paint color, you’ll want to prime the raw, wood surfaces. This will help the paint bond better, prevent tannins in the wood from bleeding through and will prevent sheen differences and premature peeling of the paint.

Brick

If your home has a brick exterior, preparation is important to make sure the brick lasts. The first thing you’ll want to do is clean the surface via pressure washing, and let it dry for at least 24 hours.  A pressure washing concentrate cleaner should be used, and bleach if mildew is present.  If you have white chalking on your brick, which is called effloressence, this must be removed with vinegar and a vinyl brush before the priming or painting begins.  Make sure to seal any cracks you find in the brick with a paintable acrylic caulk. Let the brick dry overnight. You’ll also want to renew mortar joints if the cracks are 1/4″ or wider with mortar.

Just like wood, you’ll want to prime raw brick before applying the paint color using a special primer recommended for a higher Ph.  We recommend Loxon Primer and Sealer from Sherwin Williams.  If you had to replace any morter, this must cure for 7 days before applying the primer. Follow up with Loxon XP paint from Sherwin Williams.